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December 26
Events *838 - A heavy storm surge causes floods in nearly all the coastal areas of the Low Countries. *1481 - Battle of Westbroek - Holland defeats troops of Utrecht. *1606 - First Performance of William Shakespeare's King Lear *1620 - Elizabeth Báthory's crimes are uncovered. * 1620 - Pilgrim Fathers land at what becomes Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts. *1776 - American Revolutionary War: The British are defeated in the Battle of Trenton. *1790 - Louis XVI of France gives his public assent to Civil Constitution of the Clergy during the French Revolution. *1792 - The final trial of King Louis XVI of France begins in Paris. *1793 - Battle of Geisberg: French defeat Austrians. * 1793 - The wedding of Prince Friedrich Ludwig of Prussia and Frederica of Mecklenburg-Strelitz takes place. *1805 - Austria and France signed the Treaty of Pressburg. *1806 - Battles of Pultusk and Golymin: Russian forces hold French forces under Napoleon. *1811 - A theater fire in Richmond kills the Governor of Virginia George William Smith and the president of the First National Bank of Virginia Abraham B. Venable. *1825 - Several Imperial Russia army officers lead circa 3000 soldiers on the Senate Square in the failed Decembrist uprising. *1825 - The Erie Canal opens. *1848 - The Phi Delta Theta fraternity is founded. *1860 - The first ever inter-club football match takes place between Hallam F.C. and Sheffield F.C. at the Sandygate Road ground in Sheffield, England. *1861 - American Civil War: Confederate diplomatic envoys James M. Mason and John Slidell are freed by the United States government, thus heading off a possible war between the United States and Britain. *1862 - American Civil War: The Battle of Chickasaw Bayou begins. *1862 - Four nuns who were volunteer nurses on board USS Red Rover were the first female nurses on a U.S. Navy hospital ship. *1862 - The largest mass-hanging in US history took place in Mankato, killing 39. *1870 - The 12.8-km long Fréjus Rail Tunnel through the Alps is completed. *1871 - Gilbert and Sullivan collaborate for the first time, on their lost opera, Thespis. It does modestly well, but the two will not collaborate again for four years. *1898 - Marie and Pierre Curie announce the isolation of radium. *1906 - The Story of the Kelly Gang is released, widely considered to be the world's first feature film. *1908 - Jack Johnson becomes the first African American heavyweight boxing champion by defeating Tommy Burns in Sydney, Australia. *1916 - Joseph Joffre is made Marshal of France. *1919 - Babe Ruth sold to the Yankees. *1925 - The Communist Party of India is founded. * 1925 - Turkey adopts the Gregorian Calendar. *1931 - Phi Iota Alpha, the oldest existing Latino fraternity is founded. *1933 - The Nissan Motor Company is organized in Tokyo, Japan. * 1933 - FM radio is patented. *1943 - World War II: The German warship Scharnhorst sinks off the coast of North Cape in Norway after being attacked by the Royal Navy late the previous evening. *1944 - The play The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams is first publicly performed. * 1944 - World War II: U.S. troops repulse German forces at Bastogne. *1945 - CFP franc and CFA franc are created. *1946 - The Flamingo Hotel opens in Las Vegas. *1947 - Twenty-six inches of snow falls in 16 hours in New York City. *1948 - Cardinal Mindszenty is arrested in Hungary and accused of treason and conspiracy. *1966 - The first Kwanzaa is celebrated by Maulana Karenga, the chair of Black Studies at California State University. *1973 - Comet Kohoutek reaches perihelion but is not such a display as expected. * 1973 - Soyuz 13 lands on earth after a week in orbit. *1974 - Salyut 4 is launched. *1975 - The Tupolev Tu-144 goes into service in Soviet Union. *1976 - The Communist Party of Nepal is founded. *1979 - Soviet Special forces troops take over presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan. * 1979 - Opening night of the Concerts for the People of Kampuchea at the Hammersmith Odeon; a benefit concert for the citizens of Cambodia who were victims of dictator Pol Pot *1980 - Aeroflot puts the Ilyushin Il-86 into service. *1982 - Time Magazine's Man of the Year was for the first time given to a non-human, the personal computer. *1986 - The first long-running American television soap opera, Search for Tomorrow, airs its final episode after thirty-five years on the air. *1988 - The Nanjing Anti-African protests in Nanjing, the People's Republic of China begin. *1991 - Supreme Soviet meets and formally dissolves the USSR. *1996 - Start of the largest strike in South Korean history. * 1996 - The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification goes into force. *1997 - The Soufriere Hills volcano on the island of Montserrat explodes, creating a small tsunami offshore. *1998 - Iraq announced its intention to fire upon U.S. and British warplanes that patrol the northern and southern no-fly zones. * 1998 - Severe gales over Ireland, northern England, and southern Scotland cause widespread disruption and widespread power outages in Northern Ireland and southern Scotland. *1999 - Severe weather in France kills over 100 people and causes extensive damage to property and trees and the French national power grid (see Lothar). *2002 - French Raelian scientist Brigitte Boisselier says Clonaid has delivered the first of a supposed five clone babies through cesarean section. *2003 - A strong magnitude 6.6 earthquake devastates southeast Iranian city of Bam, killing tens of thousands and destroying the citadel of Arg-é Bam. *2004 - An earthquake measuring 9.3 on the Richter magnitude scale creates a tsunami causing devastation in Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, The Maldives and many other areas around the rim of the Indian Ocean, killing more than 200,000. Births *1194 - Frederick II (d. 1250) *1532 - Guilielmus Xylander, German classical scholar (d. 1576) *1536 - Yi I, Korean Confucian scholar (d. 1584) *1646 - Robert Bolling, English settler in Virginia (d. 1709) *1666 - Guru Gobind Singh, Tenth Guru of Sikhism (d. 1708) *1687 - Johann Georg Pisendel, German musician (d. 1755) *1716 - Thomas Gray, English writer (d. 1771) * 1716 - Jean François de Saint-Lambert, French poet (d. 1803) *1723 - Friedrich Melchior, German writer (d. 1807) *1737 - Prince Josias of Coburg, Austrian general (d. 1815) *1751 - Clement Hofbauer, Austrian missionary and saint (d. 1820) *1771 - Julie Clary, queen consort of Naples (d. 1845) *1780 - Mary Fairfax Somerville, British mathematician (d. 1872) *1782 - Filaret Drozdov, Metropolitan of Moscow (d. 1867) *1791 - Charles Babbage, English mathematician and inventor (d. 1871) *1819 - E. D. E. N. Southworth, American novelist (d. 1899) *1822 - Dion Boucicault, Irish actor and playwright (d. 1890) *1837 - George Dewey, U. S. admiral (d. 1917) *1853 - René Bazin, French novelist (d. 1932) *1859 - William Stephens, U.S. political figure (d. 1944) *1872 - Norman Angell, British politician, Nobel laureate (d. 1967) *1873 - Thomas Wass, English cricketer (d. 1953) *1883 - Maurice Utrillo, French artist (d. 1955) *1887 - Arthur Ernest Percival, British Army officer (d. 1966) *1890 - Uncle Charlie Osborne, American fiddler (d. 1992) *1891 - Henry Miller, American writer (d. 1980) *1893 - Mao Zedong, Chinese military leader and politician (d. 1976) *1894 - Jean Toomer, American writer (d. 1967) *1902 - Anatoli Lvovich Kaplan, Russian painter (d. 1980) *1903 - Elisha Cook Jr., American actor (d. 1995) *1904 - Alejo Carpentier, Cuban writer (d. 1980) *1906 - Imperio Argentina, Argentine actress and singer (d. 2003) *1913 - Frank Swift, English footballer and journalist (d. 1958) *1914 - Richard Widmark, American actor * 1914 - Annemarie Wendl, German actress (d. 2006) *1918 - George Rallis, Greek politician, Prime Minister of Greece (d. 2006) *1921 - Steve Allen, American comedian (d. 2000) *1922 - Richard Mayes, English actor (d. 2006) *1927 - Alan King, American comedian (d. 2004) * 1927 - Denis Quilley, British actor (d. 2003) * 1927 - Stu Miller, baseball player *1929 - Régine, French singer and nightclub owner *1930 - Donald Moffat, English-born actor * 1930 - Jean Ferrat, French singer and songwriter *1933 - Ugly Dave Gray, Australian television personality * 1933 - Caroll Spinney, American puppeteer *1935 - Abdul "Duke" Fakir, American singer (The Four Tops) * 1935 - Norm Ullman, Canadian hockey player *1937 - John Horton Conway, British mathematician * 1937 - Jay Heimowitz, American poker player *1938 - Bahram Beizai, Iranian playwright and film director * 1938 - Alamgir Kabir, Bangladeshi film director (d. 1989) *1939 - Fred Schepisi, Australian film director *1940 - Edward C. Prescott, American economist, Nobel laureate * 1940 - Phil Spector, American music producer * 1940 - Ray Sadecki, Major league baseball pitcher *1941 - Daniel Schmid, Swiss film director (d. 2006) *1942 - Marco Vinicio Cerezo Arévalo, Guatemalan president * 1942 - Gray Davis, former Governor of California *1944 - Jane Lapotaire, British actress *1945 - John Walsh, American talk show host *1947 - Carlton Fisk, American baseball player *1947 - James T. Conway, 34th Commandant of the USMC *1948 - Candy Crowley, American journalist *1949 - José Ramos Horta, Foreign Minister of East Timor, Nobel laureate *1951 - Richard Skinner, British radio presenter *1953 - Henning Schmitz, German musician (Kraftwerk) *1954 - Ozzie Smith, American baseball player * 1954 - Steve Steen, English actor *1955 - Evan Bayh, American politician *1956 - David Sedaris, American essayist *1957 - Dermot Murnaghan, British broadcaster *1958 - Adrian Newey, British engineer *1959 - Koji Morimoto, Japanese animated film director *1960 - Temuera Morrison, New Zealand actor *1961 - John Lynch, Irish actor *1963 - Lars Ulrich, Danish-born drummer (Metallica) *1964 - Elizabeth Kostova, American author *1966 - Sandra Taylor, American model and actress *1968 - Dennis Knight, American professional wrestler *1970 - James Mercer, musician (The Shins) * 1970 - Krissada Terrence, Thai singer and actor *1971 - Jared Leto, American actor and singer (30 Seconds to Mars) * 1971 - Jonathan M. Parisen, American film director * 1971 - Mika Nurmela, Finnish footballer *1972 - Robert Muchamore, Children's Author *1975 - Marcelo Ríos, Chilean tennis player *1976 - Lea De Mae, Czech actress (d. 2004) *1978 - Kaoru Sugayama, Japanese volleyball player *1979 - Chris Daughtry, American singer *1980 - Todd Dunivant, American soccer player *1982 - Oguri Shun, Japanese Actor/Model *1984 - Alex Schwazer, Italian race walker *1985 - Yuu Shirota, Japanese Idol *1987 - Adam Walker, British flautist Deaths * 268 - Pope Dionysius * 418 - Pope Zosimus *1350 - Jean de Marigny, French bishop *1458 - Arthur III (b. 1393) *1476 - Galeazzo Maria Sforza, Duke of Milan (b. 1444) *1530 - Babur, Emperor of the Mogul empire (b. 1483) *1574 - Charles of Guise, French cardinal (b. 1524) *1624 - Simon Marius, German astronomer (b. 1573) *1731 - Antoine Houdar de la Motte, French writer (b. 1672) *1771 - Claude Adrien Helvétius, French philosopher (b. 1715) *1780 - John Fothergill, English physician (b. 1712) *1784 - Seth Warner, American revolutionary leader (b. 1743) *1786 - Gasparo Gozzi, Italian critic and dramatist (b. 1713) *1869 - Jean Louis Marie Poiseuille, French physiologist (b. 1797) *1890 - Heinrich Schliemann, German archaeologist (b. 1822) *1909 - Frederic Remington, American artist (b. 1861) *1931 - Melvil Dewey, inventor of the Dewey decimal classification (b. 1851) *1933 - Anatoly Lunacharsky, Russian literary critic and politician (b. 1875) *1957 - Charles Pathé, French film and recording industries pioneer (b. 1863) *1960 - Watsuji Tetsuro, Japanese philosopher (b. 1889) *1963 - George Wagner, American professional wrestler and television personality (b. 1915) *1970 - Lillian Board, British athlete (b. 1948) *1972 - Harry S. Truman, 33rd President of the United States (b. 1884) *1973 - Harold B. Lee, 11th president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (b. 1899) *1974 - Jack Benny, American comedian (b. 1894) *1977 - Howard Hawks, American film director and writer (b. 1896) *1980 - Tony Smith, American sculptor (b. 1912) *1981 - Savithri, Indian actress (b. 1937) * 1981 - Amber Reeves, feminist writer (b. 1887) *1983 - Violet Carson, British actress (b. 1898) *1985 - Dian Fossey, American gorilla specialist (b. 1932) * 1985 - Harold P. Warren, American movie director (d. 1928) *1986 - Elsa Lanchester, British-born actress (b. 1902) *1988 - Glenn McCarthy, American oil tycoon and businessman (b. 1907) *1989 - Doug Harvey, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1924) *1992 - Nikita Magaloff, Russian pianist (b. 1912) *1996 - JonBenét Ramsey, American murder victim (b. 1990) *1997 - Cornelius Castoriadis, Greek philosopher and economist (b. 1922) *1999 - Curtis Mayfield, American musician (b. 1942) * 1999 - Shankar Dayal Sharma, President of India (b. 1918) *2000 - Jason Robards, American actor (b. 1922) *2001 - Nigel Hawthorne, English actor (b. 1929) *2002 - Herb Ritts, American photographer (b. 1952) * 2002 - Armand Zildjian, American cymbal manufacturer (b. 1921) *2003 - Alan Bates, British actor (b. 1934) *2004 - Troy Broadbridge, Australian rules footballer (b. 1980) * 2004 - Marianne Heiberg, Norwegian mediator (b. 1945) * 2004 - Sir Angus Ogilvy, British businessman, husband of Princess Alexandra of Kent (b. 1928) * 2004 - Aki Sirkesalo, Finnish musician (b. 1962) * 2004 - Reggie White, American football player (b. 1961) * 2004 - Jonathan Drummond-Webb, South African pediatric heart surgeon (b. 1959) * 2004 - Mieszko Talarczyk, Lead singer/Guitarist of grindcore band, Nasum (b. 1974) *2005 - Jane Creba, Canadian murder victim (b. 1990) * 2005 - Muriel Costa-Greenspon, American mezzo-soprano (b. 1937) * 2005 - Kerry Packer, Australian businessman (b. 1937) * 2005 - Vincent Schiavelli, American actor (b. 1948) * 2005 - Erich Topp, German submarine commander (b. 1914) *2006 - Gerald Ford, 38th President of the United States (b. 1913) * 2006 - Ivar Formo, Norwegian skier (b. 1951) Holidays and observances December 26 is a public holiday in most Christian countries of Protestantism tradition but is not in many Roman Catholic countries. It is not a public holiday in the United States unless Christmas Day falls on a Sunday like it did in 2005 and will again in 2011, in which it is the observed federal holiday. In Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Suriname and Scandinavia, Christmas Day and the following day are called First and Second Christmas Day. *Second day of Christmas in Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Suriname and Scandinavia - a holiday without work. The celebration is more or less the same as first day of Christmas, including the option going to Mass. *St. Stephen's Day, a public holiday in Catalonia, Croatia, the Czech Republic, and Ireland. *Synaxis of Theotokos and feast of St. Joseph,King and Prophet David and St. James the Just (Orthodox Christianity) * The first of the twelve days of Christmas in Western Christianity. *Boxing Day in the Commonwealth of Nations. *Wren day in Ireland and the Isle of Man. *Australia - Proclamation Day (South Australian public holiday), for the foundation of the Australian state of South Australia on December 28 1836 but commemorated on this day. *South Africa - Day of Goodwill, a public holiday *First day of Kwanzaa *Abadiu of Antinoe is commemorated in the Coptic Church on this date. *First day of Junkanoo street parade in the Bahamas (the second day is on the New Year's Day) In Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Iceland, Poland, Slovakia, and Sweden, the 26th is known as the Second day of Christmas: Stefanitag in Austria, der zweite Weihnachtsfeiertag in Germany; Δεύτερη μέρα των Χριστουγέννων in Greece; Annandag Jul in Sweden; Anden Juledag in Denmark; Antroji Kalėdų diena in Lithuania; Andre Juledag in Norway; Tweede Kerstdag in Belgium and in the Netherlands; Annar dagur jóla in Iceland; Tapaninpäivä (St. Stephen's Day) in Finland; Karácsony másnapja in Hungary; drugi dzień Świąt Bożego Narodzenia in Poland. In some of these countries it is also a public holiday. This day is also known in Spain as San Esteban, and in Italy as Santo Stefano. External links * BBC: On This Day * * On This Day in Canada ---- Category:December